early: [OE] Broken down into its equivalent parts in modern English, early means ‘before-ly’. It was a compound formed from Old English ?r (ancestor of modern English ere ‘before’) and the adverb ending -ly, modelled probably on the parallel Old Norse form árligr. Ere itself was actually originally a comparative form, which before it was used for ‘before’ meant ‘earlier’.
Old English ?r came from prehistoric Germanic *airiz, the comparative form of *air ‘early’. Related forms in other Indo-European languages, such as Greek eri ‘in the morning’ and Avestan (the sacred form of Old Iranian) ayar? ‘day’, suggest that its underlying meaning is ‘early in the morning’. => ere
early (adv.)
Old English ?rlice "early," from ?r "soon, ere" (see ere) + -lice, adverbial suffix (see -ly (2)). Compare Old Norse arliga "early." The adjective is Old English ?rlic. The early bird of the proverb is from 1670s. Related: Earlier; earliest.
例文
1. Early American weathervanes were most often cut from flat wooden boards.
アメリカの初期の風向計は平らな板から切断されていたことが多い。
2.Ethiopia 'sart springs from her early Christian as well as her Muslim heritage.
エチオピアの芸術は、その初期のキリスト教とイスラム教の文化遺産から始まった。
3.A Delta II rocket was launched from Cape Canavelal early this morning.
今朝、カナベラル角で「デルタ」II型ロケットが打ち上げられた。
4.Two trains collided head-on in north-eastern Germany early this morning.今朝、ドイツ北東部の2つの列車が正面衝突した。
5.If cancers are spotted early there 'sa high chance of survival.